It is worth noting that Merchant 1 Payments could potentially be confused with Merchant One in search results; however, these two entities are unrelated. The president and CEO of Merchant 1 Payments is Joe Bonavota.

Key Points

Sales & Marketing: Merchant 1 Payments appears to hire independently contracted agents but has not received any complaints about its sales team.

Sales & Marketing

Key Points - Sales & Marketing

Employs Independent Resellers

Yes

Advertises Deceptive Rates

No

Discloses All Important Terms

Yes

Merchant 1 Payments appears to employ both full-time, W2-employed inside sales agents and paid-by-commission external sales agents to market its services. The latter practice is often responsible for merchant frustrations in this industry due to the difficulty of monitoring these agents’ behavior, but in this case we are only able to locate one negative Merchant 1 Payments review that mentions nondisclosure by the company’s sales team. Furthermore, this complaint does not provide specific details of what transpired and is therefore of little use (more information below). As an additional point in the company’s favor, it does not appear to engage in any deceptive advertising strategies in its official materials.

Phillip’s Top E-Commerce Picks

Costs & Contract

Key Points - Costs & Contract

Swiped Rate

Variable

Keyed-in Rate

Variable

Early Termination Fee

None

PCI Compliance Fee

$9.99 Per Month

Equipment Lease Terms

Variable

The standard Merchant 1 Payments contract (available below) outlines a month-to-month agreement with no early termination fee, a PCI compliance fee of $9.99 per month, and an optional, non-cancellable equipment lease through Ladco Leasing. There is also a PCI non-compliance fee of $20 per month for merchants who fail to maintain compliance. A company representative has stated that merchants can buy, rent, or lease equipment through Merchant 1. In almost all cases, merchants are advised to buy rather than lease equipment if possible.

Overall, there are no complaints that mention excessive fees or hidden clauses in the standard Merchant 1 Payments contract. We will therefore assume that most of the company’s merchants are satisfied with the service they receive. See the Merchant 1 Payments Merchant Agreement.

Complaints & Service

Key Points - Complaints & Service

Total Online Complaints

<10

Live Customer Support

Yes

Most Common Complaint

N/A

We are currently unable to locate any Merchant 1 Payments complaints that accuse the company of being a ripoff or a scam. In fact, there is only one review about the company across all consumer protection websites at this time. This complaint, posted in January 2014, vaguely describes a situation in which the merchant “had simply signed up and started receiving bills for online transactions that never happened!” This appears to be an isolated incident. It’s also unclear whether this complainant is referring to an external agent of Merchant 1 Payments or a representative from a different company. The lack of any other such complaints indicates that the company generally employs capable customer service reps and discloses all important contract terms. The Merchant 1 website lists dedicated phone support lines that are available 24/7.

BBB

Key Points - BBB

Product & Service Complaints

0

Billing & Collection Complaints

0

Advertising & Sales Complaints

0

Guarantee & Warranty Complaints

0

Delivery Complaints

0

Merchant 1 Payments has been an accredited business with the Better Business Bureau since 2009. As of this review, the company currently holds an “A+” rating with the BBB and has had zero complaints filed against it in the last 36 months. It has also not had any informal reviews posted to its profile. Given the fact that Merchant 1 Payments has received zero complaints, we agree with the BBB’s score in this case. For more information on how we factor BBB grades into our overall ratings, please see our rating criteria.

Merchant 1 Payments Bottom Line

Merchant 1 Payments rates as a reliable merchant services provider according to our standards. The company is showing nearly zero total complaints at this time and scores very well with the BBB. Even when dealing with highly rated providers, merchants are encouraged to carefully examine the terms of any contract they are given.

About Phillip Parker

Hi, I’m Phillip and I’m disgusted by the state of credit card processing in the U.S. and abroad. I believe that the industry has been overrun by people who engage in fraud and deception in order to steal money from hard working business owners. I’ve made it my mission to expose the companies and individuals who engage in predatory marketing, pricing, and contracts, or just provide terrible service. Along with uncovering the bad guys, I’ve also discovered the good guys who do stand out from the status quo. CPO is a website where you will find ratings and reviews of these companies along with advice on how to save money and which service providers consider. Together we can move the industry in a positive direction. If you would like to help support my work, please checkout “Fee Sweep” my eGuide to getting the lowest possible fees when accepting card payments. If you haven’t heard of “interchange” this advice will save you hundreds, even thousands, in processing fees.

Phillip’s Merchant Account Rate and Fee Savings Guide

Copyright & Disclaimer

Any unauthorized copying and reproduction of the content of this page, including all meta data and computer code, is strictly prohibited. While the information in the above article is believed to be accurate as of its publish date, the author and publisher make no representation or warranties with respect to the accuracy, applicability, fitness, or completeness of the contents. The author and publisher shall in no event be held liable to any party for any direct, indirect, punitive, special, incidental or other consequential damages arising directly or indirectly from any use of this material, which is provided “as is,” and without warranties. Any and all use of trade names and/or marks are for identification purposes only and shall not be construed as a claim of affiliation, or otherwise, with CardPaymentOptions.com, Inc. ("CPO") in any form. The sole purpose of the material presented herein is to alert, educate, and inform readers. It is not intended as legal or financial advice.

7 ReviewsLeave Your Review Below

Super company! I have been with Merchant 1 Payments for over 2 years now. From my first monthly statement I can finally say I understand the rates being charged. We have multiple locations with Merchant 1 Payments and all our locations are very happy with the services we receive. Thank you Merchant 1 Payments.

Switched to Merchant 1 Payments 4 years ago. Great service, lower rates and they supply me with the paper rolls. One stop shop with no hidden fees or rate changes. Their slogan is “at Merchant 1 Payments the Merchant is always # 1” and they stick to it. Thank you to my Regional Account Executive Len for helping me make the switch.

I have worked for Merchant 1 Payments for 3 years now and I can verify that they do not charge an early termination fee or PCI compliance fees. I have worked in the merchant services industry for 3 and a half years now and I have had some real nightmares with other merchant services providers. With Merchant 1 Payments I can call Merchants that I have signed up and ask for referrals, 9 out of 10 times I will get the referral. Customers are very happy with the all aspects of services received from Merchant 1 Payments. My Relationship Manager always says to me “Paul, we are not the biggest but we are the best and we are building the Merchant 1 Payments brand one merchant at a time”.

When I first stared with Merchant 1 Payments I thought this was just going to be another nightmare but I was so desperate to get my more than unsatisfied Merchants which I signed up with other providers away from the nightmare which I put them through and put them with a real company that has integrity and most important respect for their customers. Most of the Merchants I signed up with the other providers were friends & family who had businesses and they could not understand why I would placed them with such a bad provider. I spoke to my Relationship Manager with Merchant 1 Payments and they helped me move them from the other Merchant Services Providers and are now more then happy with the rates and services. I hope this is very helpful and please beware of the crooks out there!

I have seen the Merchant 1 Payments Agreement and it is the replica of the Elavon Agreement. They do NOT have any PCI Compliance Fee and they have the only agreement that I have seen that does NOT have any early termination fee. Their current website demonstrates their policy of total transparency and their objectives to have such universal. They conform to the Canadian Code of Conduct which is a voluntary standard that they wish to see as compulsory throughout the industry. I know many merchants who use their services and all are extremely pleased.

Provider of the Month

Why Fattmerchant: This provider has one of the most competitive pricing plans of any merchant account provider in the card processing industry. Fattmerchant also offers a month-to-month service agreement, no cancellation fees, no hidden fees, and processing options for virtually any business need. Add to all of this easy-to-use technology and top-rated customer support, and you can’t go wrong with this choice.

Exposing The Truth

Hi, I’m Phillip and I’m disgusted by the state of credit card processing industry. I believe that it has been overrun by people who engage in fraud and deception in order to steal from hard working business owners. I’ve made it my mission to expose the companies and individuals who engage in predatory marketing, pricing, and contracts. You shouldn’t have to worry about paying inflated fees or getting trapped in expensive contracts when you are simply trying to take payments from your customers.

Phillip Parker Founder & Critic

P.S. If you would like to help support my work, please checkout “Fee Sweep” my eGuide to getting the lowest possible fees when accepting card payments. If you haven’t heard of “interchange” this advice will save you hundreds, even thousands, in fees.